In Flight photos

[Lonestranger]

The cold weather and other factors have limited my photography over the past few months, so here's a shot from back in October 2025.

Very curious to find out if Flickr will automatically embed the image here as it does elsewhere.

https://flic.kr/p/2rzcYTc

Hmmm, photo wasn't automatically embedded but the attachment tab only appears to work with local photos stored on my computer/phone, with no option for linking/displaying online photos. Will need to figure out how to share Flickr images without finding/downloading them on my hard drive.

[Greyhawk]

Very curious to find out if Flickr will automatically embed the image here as it does elsewhere.

Looks like bbcode can't do that automatically. Of course if you figure out the static URL of the image, it's easy enough to insert it using the "insert image" function, but that violates Flickr's terms unless you additionally use the "link" function to make the image a link to the Flickr image holder page.

Sorry.

[Lonestranger]

DL6A9992-2 by Glen Mercer, on Flickr

I simply had to click on the Share icon in Flickr and select the BBCode option that Flickr assigned to the image. Copying and pasting the right code seems to have solved my Flickr upload issue.

[Aidan B]

Recent Burrowing Owl from my trip to SoCal

[Lonestranger]

There were a half dozen or so flocks of Tundra Swans flying past yesterday, March 10, 2026. Their unusual call attracted my attention and prompted me to grab the camera. Not a very good shot due to the distance, but I wouldn't be able to get them all in the frame if I zoomed in tighter. Rough counts of around 150 swans in each flock.

DL6A1192 by Glen Mercer, on Flickr

[Marilynne]

Osprey.jpg

Osprey
September 28 2020
Delray Beach FL

[Charlie Spencer]

I recently started a discussion asking for help improving my BIF skills ( https://whatbirdisthat.net/viewtopic.php?t=234 ). The goal is be prepared to get identifiable shots of pelagics when we cruise to Bermuda in August.

My fellow curmudgeon

suggested posting my efforts here. Remember, this was his idea, not mine!

Lockwood Folly River, a tidal estuary, Brunswick County, southern coastal NC.
Royal Terns. I got lucky when the bird I was tracking crossed paths with another in the same focal plane.


Sandwich Tern


Russell Burgess Nature Preserve, Horry County, northeastern SC.

Glossy Ibis. This is probably closest to the conditions I expect on the cruise ship. I wasn't facing the right direction initially, found the birds late, and zoomed and focused as they were moving away. Still, they're identifiable!

[Lonestranger]

Royal Terns. I got lucky when the bird I was tracking crossed paths with another in the same focal plane.

Nice capture showing the species from two different perspectives in one frame. Those kind of shots should definitely help in IDing the birds.

I'm curious which one of the terns you were tracking when you took this shot. Were you tracking the bird flying away, where the focus seems sharpest, or were you tracking the softer focused bird flying across the frame? Just curious if the camera focused as desired or if the focus jumped to the other bird as they got close?

My fellow curmudgeon
Lonestranger wrote:

I had to look up 'curmudgeon' to make sure I was taking things in the right context, since you were associating yourself with the word, and I am surprised that you view yourself that way. I'm not going to say it's not true, just surprised that you admit to it.
"A curmudgeon is a bad-tempered, cantankerous, and stubborn person who is easily annoyed and frequently complains. The term is most often used to describe an older individual with a gruff demeanor and a grouchy attitude."

On a more serious, sincere, note, I was sharing our recent interactions with MJ and we were both laughing a much needed laugh. After sharing our chuckles, MJ said to me, "Tell Charlie that Marie-jo says, Thank You for making me laugh once in a while with his saucy comments."
Curmudgeon or not, we still like you.

[Charlie Spencer]

I'm curious which one of the terns you were tracking when you took this shot.

Sorry, I took that six days ago, although I doubt I could have told you by the time I got home and started culling the images.

In this case it's more obvious, and that the focus on the target bird was slipping a bit.



Swallows are still a major challenge. This was from about 150 feet. I was reduced to aiming a point they were visiting under this foot bridge and ripping off several multi-second bursts. I don't know if there's a more reliable approach to this family. These are Barn but strictly because of range. If these were taken where Cliff or Cave were options, none of the photos would have confirmed or eliminated any of the three specie.

[Lonestranger]

I don't know if there's a more reliable approach to this family.

Allow me to state the obvious. The smaller, faster, more erratic the bird is, the harder they are to photograph, making swallows one of the most difficult birds to capture in flight. Pre-focusing where you anticipate the bird to fly is a good approach when tracking the bird gets difficult. Using a smaller aperture can help increase the depth of field/focus, but that comes with sacrifices of reduced shutter speeds or increased ISO.

Reducing your focal length can also help increase depth of field for those birds that don't want to position themselves at just the right distance until after you pause between bursts. A shorter lens might mean more cropping, so you'll have to balance the distance of the bird with the quality of the image to determine if it's practical to shorten the lens and compensate with a heavier crop.

To get some perspective on DoF for your camera's sensor size, I went to dofmaster.com and entered a few variables at 150 feet to compare the differences. Here's a few screen shots showing how aperture and focal length influence DoF. Variables on the upper left with results in the upper right and illustrated at the bottom.

Screenshot_20260711_080941_Samsung Browser.jpg

Screenshot_20260711_081422_Samsung Browser.jpg

Screenshot_20260711_080504_Samsung Browser.jpg

Screenshot_20260711_080810_Samsung Browser.jpg

Rapid bursts over several seconds is how I approach swallows, sometimes the best we can do is to spray and pray.

[Lonestranger]

Sorry about that ^^^. I never even considered the size of the screenshots when I uploaded them from my phone. I honestly thought everyone would have to zoom in on the numbers in order to see them, the way I had to on my phone. I had no idea they'd fill a computer screen the way they do.

[Lonestranger]

I was trying to get an ID shot of a sparrow perched in the weeds on Friday, only to have the bird launch away from the camera just as I was pressing the shutter button. Luckily the first of a three shot burst caught the bird while still perched and was good enough to ID the female House Sparrow, but the last of the three shots left me disappointed because the 1/1600 shutter speed wasn't fast enough to identify the source of red on the underside of this female House Sparrow's wing due to the motion blur. Really wish I'd used a faster shutter speed for a better view of the mysterious red-ish patch in this shot.